If we go tonight I can talk to them in person.
I had thought to leave tomorrow but given that we are going to lose three hours perhaps tonight is best.
I thought so.
Can you be packed and ready in two hours?
Of course. TTYL
“Very well, sir. I shall make all the arrangements,” Fawkes said when he learned of the plan. “When are we leaving?”
“Two hours,” Allan said.
He left his assistant and headed to his den, where he poured himself a stiff Scotch and then went over to his recliner to call his cousins. But there was a knock on the door before he could dial.
“Come in,” he called.
Kell and Dec entered the room. They looked somber, and he realized that though John was his best friend, both his cousins had counted John as their friend, as well.
“We came as soon as we heard,” Dec said. He stood in the doorway looking awkward.
“Thanks. I’m leaving tonight. I don’t expect the trip to take more than a week. Jessi is coming with me, Kell. I think we might have to adjust some of her deadlines,” Allan said. Even if she was his most irritating adversary, he had to help her out now. He’d seen her broken and he shared her pain.
“We can discuss business later. When will the funeral be?”
“I don’t know. I have to talk to the funeral home once we get to North Carolina. John only had a few distant cousins. I won’t know what kind of arrangements they might have already made until I’m on the ground there. I might end up in charge of the planning. And then there is Patti to consider. I know that Jessi is arranging her service.”
“Just let us know and we’ll fly out for it,” Dec said. “Do you need anything?”
He shook his head. What could he say? For once he was at a loss for words. “I’ve got this,” he finally said.
“Of course you do, but he was our friend, too,” Dec said. Allan saw a quiet understanding in his cousin’s eyes as he looked over at him.
Falling in love had changed the other man. He wasn’t as distant as he’d always been.
“I don’t know how else to handle this except to plan and take control,” Allan admitted.
“That’s the only way,” Kell said. “We’ll leave you to it.”
Dec glanced quickly at him again as he followed Kell out. When his cousins were gone, Allan fell back on the large, battered brown sofa that didn’t quite fit with the decor in the elegant and luxuriously appointed room. The couch had major sentimental value—John and Allan had purchased this piece at a garage sale for their first college apartment.
He put the heels of his hands over his eyes, pushing as hard as he could until he saw stars and there were no more tears.
“Another Scotch, sir?”
Allan dropped his hands and glanced up at his butler. Fawkes was standing there with a glass in one hand. “No. I’m going to pack and then get ready to head to the airport.”
“Yes, sir,” Fawkes said. “I have already arranged the accommodations. I’ve been tracking the weather, as well.... There might be a situation.”
“What kind of situation?”
“Tropical storm in the Atlantic, but it’s not predicted to head toward North Carolina. Just keeping my eye on it.”
“Thanks, Fawkes.”
Allan walked away and forced his mind to the task at hand. There was no reason why he couldn’t get through his best friend’s death the way he handled everything else. He’d manage and take control of the situation.
* * *
For once, Jessi’s sharp tongue was dulled by Allan’s generous offer to let her ride on his jet to the Outer Banks with him. Or maybe it was all the talk of funerals making her numb. As soon as she finished texting, she turned to put her phone on the hall table and found herself staring at a photo of Patti on the wall.
Jessi’s heart hurt and she started to cry. She missed Patti. She missed the talks they wouldn’t have. She longed to be able to pick up the phone and call her again. But that couldn’t happen.
She sank to the floor, wrapped her arms around her waist and just sat there, trying to pretend that the news wasn’t true. She didn’t want to imagine her world without Patti. Granted, she had her sisters, but Patti was the person who knew her best. They’d gotten into trouble together since the second grade. What was she going to do now?
There was a knock on the door and she stared at it before forcing herself to her feet and wiping her face on her sleeve. Then she took a quick look at herself in the mirror.
Pitiful. Suck it, up, Jess. No one likes a crybaby.
“Coming,” she called, but took a moment to wipe off the smudges that the combination of her tears and her heavy eyeliner had made on her face.
“We came as soon as we heard,” Emma said when Jessi answered the ringing doorbell. Their youngest sister was there, too. Both women had their children with them. Emma’s three-year-old Sam was holding his mother’s hand, and twenty-one-month-old D.J. was sleeping quietly in Cari’s arms.
“I didn’t think you guys would get here so fast,” Jessi said.
“Dec heard about it from Allan,” Cari said, crossing the threshold and giving Jessi a one-armed hug. Jessi wrapped her own arms around her sister and nephew and held them close. Emma shut the door and joined the group hug.
Jessi felt the sting of tears once more, but choked them back. Though it was okay to let loose with her sisters, she didn’t want to start crying again. Tears weren’t going to bring Patti and John back. Tears weren’t going to do anything helpful.
“What can we do?” Emma asked.
“I’m not sure. The funeral will have to be arranged, and then there is Hannah....”
“What about her?”
“Allan and I are her godparents. I agreed to it because Patti asked. But I’m not good with babies. You both know this. I’m just—” Jessi abruptly stopped talking. She wasn’t going to admit to her sisters that she had no idea what to do next. For only the second time in her life she was lost. Lost. It was a place she’d vowed to never let herself be again.
Emma wrapped her arms around her again and for a minute Jessi was seven and her big sister’s hug could fix all her problems. She hugged her sister back and took comfort from her before gathering herself and stepping away.
“I’m okay.”
Cari looked skeptical, but was too nice to say anything. Emma just watched her, and finally Jessi turned on her heel and walked toward her bedroom. She could tell one of her sisters was following
